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Principessa Marietta Loretto de Palma
In Biggles Fails to Return, the Principessa Marietta Loretto de Palma, or the Princess Marietta for short, was a Sicilian Princess who played a central role in the plot. She was the reason Biggles was sent to Monaco on a secret mission and his failure to return ultimately led to Algy, Ginger and Bertie going there to look for him. Princess Marietta's father was well known before the war for his anti Fascist views and was, for this reason, murdered. Thereafter, the Princess plotted against the Mussolini regime and was arrested at the beginning of the Second World War. A Sicilian secret sociey, the Camorra, helped her to escape and she made her way to Monaco where she sought refuge in the house of a supposed friend, a wealthy Milanese banker named Gaspard Zabani. Through British agents, the Princess sent a message requesting help to the British government. Unfortunately, Zabani betrayed her to the police, so that by the time Biggles arrived to fetch her, she had been arrested and locked in the local police station. Nonetheless, Biggles managed to break her out and they then escaped in an Italian police car via the Grand Corniche to Californie, where an aircraft was scheduled to pick them up. Hotly pursued, Biggles and the Princess made it to the aircraft. The pilot, Henri Ducoste was certain that he saw the Princess step on board but then saw Biggles fall after being shot. Under fire, Henri was forced to take off without waiting for Biggles. When he landed in England, he found to his surprise that the Princess was also missing. In fact the Princess had jumped off the aircraft to help Biggles. She shot two of the pursuing guards and then dragged him into hiding until the other guards gave up searching for them. After making their way along the shore, they hid at "Jock's Bar" at Nice for a while. The Princess then sought the help of Mario Rossi, an Italian who ran a restaurant in Monaco whose family had been in royal service. Mario proved a faithful servant. With his ambulance which he kept as a member of the local defence force, he transfered the Princess and Biggles to a hideout in the abandoned village of Castillon where the Princess nursed Biggles' wounds while he recovered. The Princess and Biggles were later joined by Algy, Ginger and Bertie who found their way to Castillon through various means. Together they developed a plan to escape from France and ultimately the whole party, reached Algieria by means of a stolen Italian Savoia flying boat and from there to London. Throughout the book, there were suggestions of a romantic interest between the Princess and Biggles, although this was not developed as far as the relationship between Ginger and Henri's sister Jeannette. Biggles certainly had a high opinion of the Princess. When Ginger remarked that she was an exceptional princess who could nurse and cook, Biggles agreed, adding that she was "the real thing". Later he told the rest that his opinion of princesses had reached a new altitude record because of her. Category:People Category:WW2 era characters Category:Biggles characters